More than the language

It was back to class tonight for our little Mandarin group, after a long holiday break. We spend an hour every Monday night taking language lessons from our very patient teacher. It's very informal and there's a lot of repetition. And thankfully our teacher forgives those of us who do not practice at home!

Learning a bit of the language is only a small part of what keeps me going to this class. Along with the simple words and phrases, every class offers a tidbit or two of Chinese history, custom, culture, or spirituality. As we approach the year of the rat, tonight's class was all about the twelve animals of the Chinese calendar. We learned that there is a belief that the year in which you were born is important to your compatibility with your partner - some animals just don't get along. Makes sense! We also learned a Chinese saying that says "If there is no tiger in the mountains, the monkey will be king". So, never underestimate the power of someone born in the year of the monkey.

I know I will never be fluent in Mandarin. But listening to these bits of culture and history, along with picking up a few words, simply makes me feel closer to our baby. Helping her to explore and appreciate her heritage will be an important part of our lives, but with this class I feel that I am beginning the process. I guess you could consider it international adoption pre-natal classes!

The only Mandarin sentence I really need to know, I learned in the first class: "wo ai wo de nuer" - I love my daughter.